FC St. Pauli

Golden touch

Kiel coach Tim Walter, who joined the Storks from Bayern Munich II in summer, ranks third when it comes to successful substitutions. His substitutes have knocked in four goals so far and also provided two assists. Markus Kauczinski leads the way in this ranking, however, with five goals and four assists; Magdeburg's Jens Härtel is second with five goals and one assist.

Indefatigable

Alexander Mühling has done the most running for Sunday's visitors this term. The midfielder clocked up 112.71 kilometres in the first ten games, putting him 12^th overall in the league. Mühling, who arrived from Sandhausen in the summer of 2016, has also impressed in front of goal. The 26-year-old tops the internal scoring chart with three goals and also has an assist to his name.

Returnee

Second to Mühling in terms of distance covered is Hauke Wahl. His total of 110.35 kilometres is the highest in the league for a centre-back. The Hamburg native returned to Kiel in summer after a three-year absence. Wahl wore the Kiel shirt from 2012 to 2015 (62 appearances, 2 goals) and then had spells at SC Paderborn (2015/16), FC Ingolstadt (1^st half 2016/17) and FC Heidenheim (second half 2016/17) and Ingolstadt again (2017/18). The defender hasn't missed a single minute this season, a record he shares with his goalkeeper teammate Kenneth Kronholm.

Top find

Holstein Kiel signed more than a dozen players in summer, among them Jae-sung Lee. The South Korea international, who played from start to finish in every game for the Reds at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, arrived from Jeonbuk Motors of the top South Korean division and was an immediate hit. The technically gifted left-footed player has scored one goal and made another four to date and thus leads the way in the goals-and-assists category along with Janni Serra (2 goals, 3 assists). Lee is carrying a knee injury at the moment, however, and it remains to be seen whether he will feature at the Millerntor.

Unpredictable

The Storks rank eighth in terms of goals scored this season with 15 but when it comes to the number of goalscorers, they top the rankings. Nine different players have entered their names on the scoresheet, a total only SC Paderborn and Arminia Bielefeld can match. Markus Kauczinski's side follow this trio with eight different scorers. While we're on the subject of scoring, Kiel are particularly dangerous late on. Six of their 15 goals have come in the final quarter of an hour. Only Fürth (8) and the Boys in Brown (7) have struck more often in the closing stages.

Bad boys

Thirteen players have been sent off so far this season (12 for two bookable offences, 1 straight red). Whereas the Boys in Brown have ended every game with 11 players, Kiel have already picked up three red cards – more than any other team. Johannes van den Bergh was dismissed in the 1-1 draw against Heidenheim in week 2, Jannik Dehm in the 4-2 win over Darmstadt in week 8 and Kingsley Schindler in the 2-1 defeat against Aue a week later. Paradoxically, Kiel have collected the lowest number of yellow cards (11) thus far.

Photos: Witters